Week 34... Where has time gone?

Ahhhh, I'm so terrible! I can't believe it's been 6 weeks since my last post. I feel so bad b/c so much has taken place! I have been busy to say the least; OVERWHELMED would better describe it! We have been doing a lot of celebrating lately. To start off, we had Michael's 30th birthday with a surprise party on the beach! Thanks to some great friends, we pulled it off and had a lot of fun! The very next day, we celebrated Anders' first birthday! He was so precious! Next came the Family Baby Shower! I must say that we have some wonderful people who care a lot about us and are so excited about Georgia's arrival. We got a ton, and when I say a ton, I mean a ton of clothes! Thank you Sharon for putting together such a wonderful weekend in honor of Georgia. Easter was our most recent holiday and it was a great one! I'm so guilty of getting caught up in my busy life and concentrating on earthly things. Easter always finds a way to really ground me again! Thank you, Lord, for the ultimate sacrifice! As much as I love my child already, I can't imagine giving her up. Most recently, some of our sweetest friends just welcomed their second baby boy into this world! Congratulations Allison and Jess... Baby Joseph couldn't be more precious! When we went to see him in the hospital, it was awesome to say the least. Allison and I told each other we were pregnant on the same night (although they were about 6 weeks ahead of us... they're much better at keeping secrets than we are)! Anyways, we've been through this whole experience together and I've looked to her for advice and encouragement throughout the past 8 months... so to finally be able to lay eyes on that sweet little boy that she has been growing in her belly was very surreal. I just looked at him and couldn't believe it! It made me even more ready for our Georgia! To finish up our celebrating over the past month, my best friend Brittany said "I Do" last night!!! I couldn't be happier for her and Jonathan... they have so much to look forward to... including moving back to Jackson, which I'm pretty excited about myself. It was a short trip to the beach but well worth it! Congrats Brittany and Jonathan!
Now on to the doctors' visits! I've been 4 times since my last post. At week 30, we also had a sonogram done. Georgia was busy yawning and making sucking motions, not to mention kicking around. We're afraid she might be a bit of a show off! The sonographer said that she was HEAD DOWN... yay! It is possible for her to flip back up but we're counting on her staying in the head down position. Her estimated weight was 3 lbs and 9 ounces! That's a big baby for 30 weeks. Most everything I read said they should be 3 lbs so that's what we were expecting. Dr. Johnson mentioned doing another sonogram at 37 weeks to check her growth to make sure we weren't going to have a 10 pounder on our hands. I have been feeling her move non-stop since then. She moves during the day, during the night, all the time!!! I can feel her shift my entire belly sometimes. She also gets the hiccups pretty often. My Braxton Hicks contractions were getting much worse... up to 20 or more a day and more than 6 or 7 in one hour so there was a point that we were a little concerned. I was checked every time I went in but it was clear they were only Braxton Hicks because I still was not dilated or effaced at 32.5 weeks. Since then, they have subsided quite a bit. I'm not having nearly as many, but when they do occur, they are more intense...but they are also much further apart. I went in this past Thursday to be cleared to travel for Brittany's wedding and she didn't feel the need to check my cervix since the contractions had subsided. That was a good sign to me. My next vist will be at 36 weeks so I believe we're in the clear. It's been over 3 weeks since I've gained any weight but Georgia is still growing so everything is just fine. Dr. Johnson told me to eat a bowl of ice cream every night so I took her up on it that day! My total weight gain is right on track so she said it's' okay for now. I seemed to gain weight much quicker in the beginning and it has finally slowed down. We're at the 25 pound mark now so by the time she gets here, it will be closer to 30. :/  By the way, today is Mother's Day and I got such a sweet card from Michael... and I got a card from Georgia. I wasn't sure if Mother's Day counts for those of us just "carrying a child" but everyone says it does so I'll take it. My first Mother's Day was great... there was even a sewing machine waiting on me when I got home today. I've been asking for one for years now but I have to admit, now that it's here, I'm a little nervous about it. Will I really be able to do it? I guess we'll see! :) Anyways, Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there, especially mine who has taught me so much about being a mother. She is the most selfless person that I know!

Baby's size:  Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long.
Eating habits/cravings: Nothing interesting lately. There are times that I am so hungry and can't seem to feed my appetite at all and other times I'm not hungry at all.
Mood/Energy: Exhausted... there's so much to do lately and I feel like I don't have the time or energy to do it all!
Things to look forward to: Next weekend is another big weekend for us. We have our maternity photographs on Saturday and our last shower that my sweet friends are throwing for us on Sunday. Our 3 year anniversary is also in just a couple of weeks!
Major development this week:  Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.